Something Stupid
by LovelyFandomLover
Summary: Roger was not the type to pine or whatever you wanted to call it. It usually was the opposite, they pined for him, they wanted to be with him, which is probably why he was way out of his element with her. Roger Taylor/OC, Bohemian Rhapsody 2018
1. I

**Fandom: **Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

**Pairing: **Roger Taylor x OC

**Summary: **He was not the type to pine or whatever you wanted to call it. It usually was the opposite, they pined for him, they wanted to be with him, which is probably why he was way out of his element with her.

**Author's Note:** Okay, since they seem to never to make a category for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), I am going to be posting this story here in the meantime. (Still crossing my fingers for its own category)

I really love this movie and the band. So, the moment I saw Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, I pretty much was a goner and wanted to write something about him. So, this is where the story came from and I hope that at least some of you are interested. I am mostly basing everything on the film, and some small fun facts that actually happen. So, be warned not everything is going to be completely accurate or true.

This story is also on Tumblr, so if you somehow recognize it from there, relax, that is me just choosing to post this story in another platform.

Please let me know what you think about this story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything remotely related to Bohemian Rhapsody, the film, or the band Queen. This is purely fiction and the only thing I own is my character, and anything original. I am only going to do this one, so we don't see this every chapter.

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_"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."_

— **Jane Austin**

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**CHAPTER I**

* * *

**NOW**

Roger had done a lot of stupid things in his life but none of it had been like this. But, that's just life, he guessed. Sometimes people did stupid things without realizing. And falling for her seemed to be one of them.

He wished he could have said it was no big deal, but it was. They had a good thing going for them before he had to ruin everything by developing 'feelings.' They talked, they laughed, they argued, they drank, and occasionally they flirted. It didn't seem much to others but for him, it was the best arrangement he could have with the opposite sex.

But none of that mattered anymore. He couldn't even be near her now, without the fear of him saying something stupid like, "You're so beautiful," "I want to be with you," or even worse, "I love you," (which he didn't but nowadays he couldn't trust his stupid self around her anymore).

How did he end up being this person? He wasn't that type of person to become flustered and he wasn't going to just because he had developed feelings for Lily Hathaway.

He was Roger fucking Taylor, the drummer of the best up and coming band. Not to mention he was not the guy that settle down and be moon-eyed for a girl. He didn't know what the hell made him even fall for her. She wasn't even that special, he thought in annoyance whenever he would catch himself staring her.

Sure, Lily was pretty great, more than great actually if you asked John or Mary. She was overly enthusiastic, nice beyond words, and went along with pretty much anything she found entertaining. She also wasn't a pushover and would argue with anyone about the dumbest things which he found hilarious. But that was about it. There was nothing else that could make her stand out from the thousand other pretty girls that he's come across.

It seemed that his inner turmoil was noticeable because Brian brought it up one night after a performance in a bar. That night had been an interesting one so far for Roger. He had been thrilled and disappointed to discover Lily wasn't able to come to watch them perform. Which then irritated him because since when did he care that Lily showed up to their performance?

"What's the matter with you?" Brian asked him. They had recently joined the crowd, losing Freddie and John in the process.

"Nothing," he said defensively, which was not exactly a lie. Despite the whole Lily not being there, he had been in a good mood. The crowd had loved their performance, and now was really looking forward to drinking and finding a pretty girl.

"Okay then," Brian said, not believing him, which rubbed Roger in the wrong way.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked sharply, his eyes narrowing at his bandmate.

Brian shook his head in exasperation. "And you say nothing's wrong."

"Brian."

"You've been a whiplashing mood all night, and not just tonight. For the past few weeks, you've been insufferable. It's been bothering everyone," he said. "Just wanted to know if there was something going on with you? You can tell me."

"There's nothing wrong with me," he lied.

"Whatever you say, Roger," Brian said, raising his hands as if surrendering.

Roger frowned at him. He was about to snap at him when something caught his eye.

_Shit_.

"What's she doing here?" he hissed, glaring at the back of her head. How he was able to pick her out in the crowded bar, he would never know. She wasn't supposed to be here today. She was supposed to be working a shift at the diner that night.

"What?" Brian frowned, following Rogers gaze and looked over at him in confusion. Lily was standing next to Mary, talking and laughing. "Since when do you have something against Lily?"

"Nothing. But wasn't she supposed to not come today?" he said again and tried to look casually, knowing that she was going to go over to them as soon as she was done talking to Mary.

"Does it matter?" Brian asked, shrugging. Roger wisely chose not to say anything else. Brian was right, he shouldn't care if Lily was there.

"Hello, hello," she said when she finally walked over to them, and threw her arms around Brian's neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Umph," Brian grunted but hugged her back. "What'd you think of tonight?"

"You played wonderfully," Lily told him, giving him a chaste kiss in the cheek and then letting him go. She surveyed him and when she found what she was looking for, nodded to herself. She naturally turned to Roger, who had been trying his best to act like she was just another groupie, begging for their attention. It nearly worked, he didn't care about anything, but then she had to go and be herself.

"Meddows," she said lightly and leaned over hugged him, with the same enthusiasm as she did with Brian. He stiffly patted her back and waited impatiently for her to let him go. When she finally did, he felt like he could breathe again.

"Jane," he said, giving her a cool smile. "Didn't think of you as a liar."

"Liar?" she echoed, looking offended.

"Deacy told us that you were supposed to be working today," Brian explained, bumping his shoulder against Roger.

Lily relaxed and laughed. "Right, that… Well, I am not a liar, so take note, Meddows. I was supposed to work tonight but they canceled my shift, unfortunately, which lead me to mope for about a minute."

"Yes, it's very clear that you're devastated," Brian said mockingly, making Lily smile at him and point a finger at him.

"Yes, I was, Brian but now I'd like to think that it was a sign that I am supposed to be here, to listen you guys play and get smashed and maybe find someone to dance with."

"Well, then the first drink is on us," Brian said, tugging on her hair affectionately. She turned to look at him and beamed at him.

"And this is why you're my favorite."

Roger was unable to hide his scoff, shifting her attention back to him.

"Jealous?" she said, giving him a teasing smile.

"And what do I have to be jealous of?" he asked dryly.

"That you're never going to be my number one," she said matter affectedly.

Roger tried to ignore how that comment bothered him more than it should have.

"Careful, don't let Deacy hear that. He will never forgive you," Brian spoke up, making her laugh.

"Well, then let's keep this between us. What he won't know won't hurt him," Lily said, giving them a quick wink. Her attention again landed on Roger and he was taken back when she suddenly tugged on his collar shirt. "And look at that, you do own a shirt."

Of course, I own one, he wanted to snap but found himself unable to speak. He simply rolled his eyes at her.

"Since when do you keep your mouth shut?" she told him, noticing his lack of snarky comebacks.

He could've said something suggestive, how he only kept it shut when it was down on a girl, and maybe he should've but he didn't. Instead, he just ignored her, muttered, "I need a beer," and pushed past her to reach the bar.

"Wanker," Lily called after him.

Just great, not only was she turning him sentimental, she was leaving him speechless. He truly hated her at that moment.

"What's wrong with him?" he overhead Lily ask Brian. "Did something happen to his car?"

No, nothing happened to his car. He couldn't believe he would prefer something would happen to his precious car than deal with this stupidity.

Reaching the bar, he noticed a pretty blonde girl, who gave him a wide smile. He acknowledged her and that was enough for her to initiate a conversation with him. Honestly, he would be better off talking to that blonde girl. At least, he knew that he wouldn't say something stupid with her, than if he was with Lily.

Glancing back he saw that she was now talking animatedly with John, probably about how she loved his dancing moves of that night, which made him roll his eyes.

_So annoying,_ he thought with mild affection and turned around to order a beer, trying to forget the warmth he felt when Lily hugged him or how he wished he could've been the one talking to her about John dance moves.

He truly was something stupid. Which is probably how he missed the curious look he was receiving from Lily, wondering what was bothering him.


	2. II

**Author's Note: **Okay, so here is the next chapter! I am happy that people are interested in this story, which is good cause I really am so excited about this story and can't wait to continue it.

I hope you like it and tell me what you think!:)

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**CHAPTER II**

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**THEN**

Roger hadn't always been like that with Lily. Overly sentimental, emotionally involved, whatever you wanted to call it. There had been a point where he could talk to her like it was nothing because back then she was nothing to him. She was just Deacy's very endearing (and at times annoying) childhood friend.

Actually, if he wanted to be honest about it, Roger had actually really hated Lily when he first met her. All because she had accidentally scratched his car.

It had been a few months after John had joined the band. They were still getting used to each other, so they didn't know a lot of John's acquaintances. One afternoon, when they took a break from rehearsal, John had asked them if it was alright for them for his friend Lily to come over. Roger, Freddie, and Brian looked at each and agreed, seeing no harm of having someone else join them.

"Perfect. We need an outside perspective," Freddie said, clapping his hands. "Cause I think we sound like shit right now."

"Now wait a minute," Brian objected. "We don't sound that bad. We just need to practice more."

"Exactly, shit."

"If we sound like shit it's because Roger—"

"Hey, watch it," Roger barked from his drums.

"Great," John interrupted them before it became a full on fight, and smiled at them. "You're going to love her. She's really great, more than great."

So, she's that kind of friend, Roger thought and shared a knowing look with Brian, which didn't go unnoticed by John.

"When I mean friend, I just mean friend," he said flatly.

"Ignore them," Mary spoke up from the couch, getting up and going over to them. "I for one, am excited for another girl to come here."

"I bring girls over all the time," Roger pointed out. Mary shot him a look which made him laugh. "Okay then, I see where you stand with them."

They quickly resumed with their practice and Roger quickly had forgotten about John's friend until it was the end of the practice. He had been fiddling with his drums when he heard the door open and a low, urgent voice.

"Deacy!"

Deacy? Roger lifted his head and frowned. Who the bloody hell was Deacy?

By the doorway, stood a redhead girl and was motioning wildly. For a second, Roger thought that it was to him until she saw John get up from his seat and go over to her. That must be his friend, Roger realized.

He saw them speak in hushed tones. Roger thought John was about to introduce them to her when he glanced over his shoulder, but then he followed her outside without a word. No one seemed to notice the stranger interaction, making Roger doubt he even saw it happen if it weren't for John's absence.

It wasn't until minutes later that John came back with the girl in tow and finally introduced her.

"Everyone," John called the attention of them. "This is Lily Hathaway, my very good friend. Lily this is Freddie and Mary."

"Hello, darling," Freddie greeted her, along with the others.

"Over there is Brian. And Lily, this is Roger Taylor," John said, emphasizing in Rogers name. He was surprised but didn't mind. John's friend was very attractive and there was nothing more Roger loved than an attractive girl.

"It's so nice to meet everyone one, John has spoken very highly of each and one of you," his friend said, in a warm voice. "I'm sorry for crashing the practice."

"Nonsense, we are so pleased for you to join us, especially me," Mary said, going over to Lily and dragging her towards the couch. "It gets lonely for me having no one to chat with."

"Then I'm happy here," Lily laughed, sounding relieved.

"So, how long have you been friends with John?"

"For quite a while now," she said, taking a seat on the couch. "We grew up in the same neighborhood but it wasn't until we went to the university when we got closer."

"Really? What are you studying?"

Mary continued questioning Lily, who answered her distractedly. Roger didn't miss the glances that Lily kept giving him. He had a hard time hiding his smug smile. If John insisted that he was just friends with Lily, then surely he wouldn't mind Roger take a shot with her.

When Mary got distracted by Freddie, Lily took that opportunity to get away from her. She cautiously approached Roger, who suddenly seemed to be deeply interested in his drumsticks at that moment.

"Are you busy right now?" she asked, giving him a small smile.

"Nope, I'm free, love," he said, giving her a charming smile.

She grimaced. "Well, I guess first of all, hello, pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasures all mine."

"Um, well, I'm Lily as Deacy just said."

"Deacy?" Roger frowned.

"I mean, John and you're Roger Taylor, right?"

"Yes, that's me," he said, straightening up. "What can I do for you?"

"Look I know this is kinda strange but I just wanted to tell you…" she trailed off, looking a little nervous, making him smirk. Her nervousness over him made her even more attractive.

"What is it?" he asked her. "You can tell me."

A weird look passed her face before she said rather quickly, "I really am sorry but I'm pretty sure I hit your car."

Whatever he expected to hear from her that was not it.

"I'm sorry what?" He said a little too loudly, catching the attention of the others in the room.

"You own a small blue car, right?"

No. No. NO.

Not answering her, Roger abruptly stood up and raced outside, with Lily at his feet. He stopped in front of his car and for a second felt relieved when he didn't see it wrecked. But then he took a step closer and his relief quickly was replaced by horror. His car had an ugly long scratch in its door.

"My car," he said in disbelief.

"I am so sorry," she said from behind him, and really did sound like she meant it. But for Roger, it didn't matter. She had wrecked his car. He was beyond pissed.

"I'm typically not a shit driver, I promise you," she started talking rapidly. "It's just that a cat appeared out of nowhere and I didn't want to run it over, because that is always disgusting, so I swerved too much to the right and then I heard a noise and when I parked I saw, well…" Her hand motioned the scratch on Rogers car and let it fall to her side. "I panicked and that is why I got Deacy to go outside and…"

"Just shut up," he finally said. Lily immediately stopped rambling. Roger exhaled deeply, trying to control his anger, and glanced over to Lily and saw how she looked uncomfortable. "My car," he said again, the only thing he was able to think about.

"Can I speak now?" she asked carefully.

"Don't have much I choice, do I?" he said rather spitefully.

That comment seemed to bother Lily because she suddenly didn't look apologetic. "Look, I'm sorry for hitting your car but you don't have to be rude."

"Excuse me for not being in my best behavior. I think I have the right to be angry."

"I—true," she admitted reluctantly. "I would be upset too if something happened to my car. But you don't have to be rude about it."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, besides, you don't have to worry, I will fix this."

"What? Are you a mechanic?"

She ignored him and walked away from him, going to her car. She came back with a pen and a scrap of paper. Scribbling quickly, she handed the paper to Roger, who despite being incredibly angry at her, was taken back by her unexpectedness.

"I don't normally complain but why are you giving me your number?"

She sighed impatiently and went over to him, grabbing his right and slamming the paper in his palm. "When you get home, you call me and then we can change information to deal with this mess that I made."

"Fine," he said and was about to pull away but she refused to let go of his hand. "Now's the time to let me go."

"You're not going to hold this against John, right?"

"Why would I do that?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't know. He's new and your car got ruined because he invited me last minute. Just to make it clear, it was all me, he had nothing to do with it so don't be an asshole to him. Because if you are, I will make your car look even worse."

Roger stared at her, not sure what to make out of her. She was John's friend and didn't want to offend him by going off at her but at the same time, she had ruined his car. He chose to focus on something that wasn't his anger and current disbelief.

"Why are you wearing a scarf?" Roger found himself asking, finally noticing the bright blue scarf that hung around her neck. She blinked and glanced down at her scarf.

"I'm cold," she said, looking back at him.

"It's summer."

"Yes, I am aware its summer. I can still be cold," she said defensively.

"Alright," he said, and then added, "And no, I am not going to be an asshole to John. I like him."

"Good," she said but sounded relieved.

Refusing to look at his car again, he sighed heavily. "Come on, let's go back inside before you get frostbite."

"Wanker," she muttered under her breath.

He glared at her. "Oh, I'm sorry, was I the one that destroyed a car?"

"Destroyed?" she exclaimed loudly. "It's a tiny scratch, don't be a baby. I said I'm going to pay for it."

"There are some things that once they're broken, can't be fixed."

"Oh dear God, it's a bloody car, get over it."

"It's my bloody car, and I will not get over it," he snapped at her.

"You know I was kind of enough to let you know what I did. I could have chosen to pretend that it was a random person and gotten away with it. But I didn't. I made the adult choice to tell you."

"Congratulations," he said sarcastically. "You're an adult."

"And you should try to act like an adult, instead of a big baby," she shouted at him. "You've been acting childish since we met."

"You hit my car," he yelled, pointing at it.

"I know!"

"Everything alright?"

Both of them stopped shouting and glanced back, seeing John standing by the door, looking at them wearily.

"You've been gone for a while and Brian thought it was best to check if Roger hadn't murdered you, Lily."

"Don't think I haven't thought about it," Roger muttered earning a reproachful look from Lily.

"No, we're done," she informed John and turned around, heading back to the building. Giving one last longing look at his destroyed car, Roger went back inside. He made a point to be farthest away from Lily.

"What happened?" Brian asked curiously.

"She destroyed my car," Roger said sullenly, glaring at the back of Lily's head. Why did John's friend have to come? Why was she still wearing the stupid scarf inside?

"Don't be dramatic," John said, joining them. "I saw the scratch, it's not bad. It can be fixed easily."

"Oh but you don't know Roger," Brian said, laughing. "It doesn't matter if they fix it, it's been tainted for life in his mind. But, what are you going to do now?"

"I got her number," Roger said without thinking.

John looked over him sharply.

"So, we can change information and deal with it," Roger clarified, but smirked at John's reaction.

"Lily has a boyfriend," John informed him.

"You?" Roger said slowly, positive he had heard him refer Lily as a friend.

"No, not me," John said, rolling his eyes. "Someone else, so how about you don't try to get into her pants. I'd appreciate that."

"Don't worry, Deacy. I think I can keep my hands to myself with your friend," he said dryly.

"Good, I don't need any problems… wait, what did you just call me?" John asked, looking slightly mortified.

"Nothing… Deacy."

"Deacy?" Brian asked in amusement.

"No, Deacon. It's Deacon, not that."

As John tried to salvage his reputation, Roger smirked as he lit a cigarette. From the corner of his eye, he could see Lily talking again to Mary, with Freddie joining their conversation. Despite what John thought, Roger did mean his promise. Attractive or not, his interest in her died when he saw what she did to his car.

He didn't pay much attention to Lily afterward, only when he wanted to act like a little shit to her. But other than that, the only reason he would put much thought on her was that Mary had taken a deep liking to her and started making sure she would join the band during practices and any other social events. And if Mary loved Lily, then Freddie loved Lily. And if Freddie loved someone, pretty much everyone else loved that someone.

That was how she went from a stranger to a constant background presence in his life. But that seemed to not be enough, because slowly and then all at once, Lily became the center stage in his life.


	3. III

**Author's Note: **And here's the next chapter! I really like this one, and I hope you like it too. Also to the guest review, thanks! Would love to know what story it is your working on!

Hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think about it! :)

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**CHAPTER III**

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Holliday's had the tendency of making people overly sentimental. Roger could admit that he was one of those people. Which is probably why Christmas could have been what first made him start looking at Lily in a different light (although he didn't know it at the time).

"This is stupid," he had grumbled when Freddie had announced few weeks before Christmas that they were going to be doing Secret Santa. He hadn't participated in those holidays games since grade school and wasn't interest to do it as an adult.

But no matter how much he grumbled and argued, everyone ignored him and started writing their names in pieces in papers. After they were finished, Freddie placed all their names in Lily's hat (that woman was always bloody cold, she needed to go see a doctor) and proceeded to pass it around to everyone.

"The name you pick is the one you're stuck with. No exchanging names," he warned them, giving Brian a look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said seriously, making John laugh.

"What if you get yourself?" Roger asked when Freddie passed him the hat and reluctantly picked a name.

"Then get yourself something nice," Lily told him, who already got her name and was folding her paper, slipping it in her jean pocket. "Like a nice pair of shoes."

"You think that's what I would get myself?" he asked, offended at what a shitty gift she had suggested.

"Socks?" she guessed. He made a face that she reciprocated. While he his hatred toward Lily had dissolved once his car door had been fixed, he still tended to end up bickering with her about pretty much anything. "Oh, I know, pants."

"I'd rather get nothing than that."

"Okay, I think that's everyone," Freddie said, interrupting them. "Remember the rules, no changing names unless you got yourself, don't go below the budget but you can go over if you want and we exchange gifts on Christmas Eve."

"This is going to be fun," Lily said, grinning at John.

Thankfully, Roger didn't get himself. Instead, he had gotten Brian, which honestly relieved him. He would be easy to buy his gift than if Roger were to have gotten Freddie or Mary. He tried to gauge the expression of everybody, hoping to identify who got him but everyone seemed to be doing a pretty good job at hiding who they got.

"Who'd you get?" Roger asked the first person who he could get when they were heading out, which happened to be Lily.

"Hmmm, let me see," she said and pulled out her paper. Roger was leaning in to take a peak when she pushed his face with her hand. "It's none of your business that's what."

"Come on," he groaned, following her. "If you tell me who you got, I'll tell you who I got."

"God, why are you such a child?"

"And why are you such a bore?"

"I am not a bore. I am the kind of girl that you wish would attend your parties."

Roger laughed loudly. He was pretty sure they were now talking about a different person. Lily wasn't a bore, but she definitely was not at Roger's level of partying. Roger hadn't realized he had been walking towards Lily's car until they reached it.

"You got John didn't you?" he asked as she opened her car door.

She squinted at him. "Don't tell me you got John?"

"Did we both get John?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't put it past John to pull some shit like that. One time he managed to convince me that I didn't buy him a birthday present when I had. Bastard."

"So that means you got John?"

Lily simply smiled at him. Changing his techniques, Roger quickly snatched the hat from her head. She yelped and looked ready to lunge at him, but thought better and stayed put in her spot.

"I'll give it back if you tell me who you got," he bargained.

"I'm not telling you who I got," she said flatly, and extended her hand, making him groan and handed her back her hat.

"You're no fun."

"You're an asshole," she said, getting in the car, and slamming the door shut. He shook his head at her in disbelief as she drove away. Once she was gone, he sighed, realizing that he didn't get a clue on who got him and was going to walk back to his car. Guess that's what he got for making a point to park on the other side whenever Lily was there.

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Christmas Eve soon came upon them, and Roger found himself with everyone cramped in Mary's living room, exchanging their Secret Santa gifts. Naturally, Freddie demanded to go first.

"For the love of my life," Freddie said and handed his gift to a beaming Mary. He gave her a long kiss which made Lily give them a wolf whistle. Roger laughed, making Lily look over at him.

"Nice hat," he mouthed, pointing to her Santa hat she had chosen to wear that evening. It matched her red dress, that he had tempted to make a comment when he had seen her but stopped himself with the warning look John threw him.

"Thank you," she said, completely choosing to ignore his sarcasm. After Mary finished marveling the beautiful dress that Freddie had given her, she then gave her gift to John, who then gave his gift to Freddie.

"I'll go next," Brian offered, who was closest to Freddie. He picked up his gift, stood up and went towards Lily's direction. "Happy Christmas, Lils."

"Thank you, Brian," she said, standing up and taking his gift. Without a warning, she pulled Brian into a tight hug, and Brian's surprised expression made everyone laugh. Everyone had quickly learned that Lily was a hugger, but was still taken back at the intensity of them. Once she realized him, Brian went back to his seat and Lily opened his gift.

"Oh, my goodness," she laughed in delight when she saw the gift and looked at Brian. "Where did you get these?"

"A friend of mine," Brian answered vaguely.

"You have more friend than us?" Freddie asked, making John cackle loudly. Brian threw a pillow in their direction.

"Books?" Roger asked skeptically when he got a good look at Lily's gift.

"Yes, books," Lily said. "Psychology books that I have been wanting forever but have been too cheap to buy for myself."

"You're fun," he muttered, earning him a pillow to the head.

"Thank you, Brian," she said again.

"I'm glad you like them," Brian said, looking pleased with herself. When she turned to pull out her gift, Brian leaned in and whispered to Roger, "You have no idea how panicked I was when I got her."

"Could've gotten her scarfs. That's what I got her, that woman is always bloody cold," he muttered, making Brian laugh.

"Alright, my turn," Lily practically sang, smiling widely, holding her gift, which was neatly wrapped with a huge bow in the middle. It should've been obvious for Roger who she got but still was a little surprised when she went towards him. He stood up when she reached him. "Happy Christmas, Roger," she said sincerely.

"Thank you," he said, taking her gift from her hands. He glanced at it and then at her, and went to give her a quick hug, but of course, Lily was having none of that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

"We should go outside and have a cigarette after this is over," she whispered in his ear. She let him go before he could respond and went back to her seat. He weighted the gift, trying to figure out what it could possibly be.

"Open it," Mary ordered.

"I'm going to, calm down," he said and reluctantly ripped the wrapping paper. He found a box and felt a slight dread. She got him shoes, he was almost certain. So, imagine his surprise when he opened the box and found three pairs of sunglasses. "Huh," he said.

"What is it?" Brain peered and grinned at him. "Look at that. Haven't you been complaining that you wanted a new pair of sunglasses."

"I have," he admitted, picking one of them and trying them on. The sunglasses were really nice, one of them was even one he had been contemplating on getting for a while. He took them off and looked at Lily, giving her a smile. "Thank you, Lily. These are great."

"You're welcome," she said and something about her nonchalant response made him suspicious. He had expected her to be more… enthusiastic or at least annoying about it. Go on about how lucky he was to get her. And then there was her whisper about going outside after this.

Yeah, she was definitely getting him back for switching her empty drinks to full ones from the last party.

"That leaves you, Roger."

"Oh, right," he said and grabbed his gift. He handed it to Brian. "Hope you like it, mate."

Brian had liked to his gift, a small telescope, and after they had finished the Secret Santa, they exchanged others gifts they had bought for each other. Freddie gave Mary jewelry, Brian gave Roger a bottle of whiskey, Lily gave John a few dress shirts and many more gifts were exchanged. Halfway through, Roger excused himself for a smoke break. He sat on the ledge of the window, and after a few minutes of smoking alone, Lily joined him, holding a gift bag with her.

"Hello, hello," she said and took a seat next to him. Because of the small size of the windows, their shoulders were tightly pressed against each other.

"Where's the hat?" He pointed to her bare head.

"Deacy's wearing it for me."

"I bet you look better with it."

"I don't know," she said, looking thoughtful. "Deacy is making it work better than I have."

"Hmm," he nodded and took a drag from his cigarette.

"Do you have another cigarette?" she asked him.

"Yeah, hold on," he said and pulled out a packet and a lighter, handing it to her.

"Ooh, its new," Lily said, grinning at him, taking one and lighting it. She took a drag and sighed contently.

"You don't usually smoke," he commented, finding it strange to see her holding a cigarette.

"No, I do, but not as much as you guys do. Only on special occasions."

"Is this a special occasion? Is this why you wanted to get me alone? Wait, do you want to shag?" he said, giving her a suggestive look.

She patted his cheek. "Sometimes I wonder what goes inside your head when you talk."

"You didn't say no."

She rolled her eyes and then turned to her right, picking up the gift bag. "Listen, we don't talk a lot and when we do, its just to bicker. Frankly, I feel that's because you're still plotting my murder because of what I did to your car," she said, her hands nervously fiddling with the present.

"Don't remind me," he said wryly, which made her wince apologetically. That made him smile. He had long gotten over it but she didn't need to know that. Which is probably why, months after the incident, and she still seemed hung up on the accident.

"Anyways, when I got your name, I was pretty excited. I wanted to get you something extra in case that was still in the back of your mind."

"So, you're trying to bribe me?" he clarified.

"No, that sounds horrible. I'm just trying to be nice," she said, pretending to be outraged. "But, hypothetically, if that were the case, I wonder if this would work."

He looked at her doubtfully as he gingerly grabbed the bag. Dropping his cigarette, and stepping on it, he opened it and saw that inside was a red-orange leather jacket. He took it out, staring at it, loss of words.

"Do you hate it?" Lily asked anxiously, misinterpreting his silence as a bad sign.

"No," he said loudly, startling Lily. "No, I… how did… this must have cost a lot."

"So, you don't hate it?"

"Not bad, Hathaway," he said, nodding his approval.

She beamed, obviously pleased with herself. "I know right? I saw it and I knew this would be perfect for you. Try it on. I am positive it fits you, but I just need to double check."

Roger sighed heavily. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," she said smacking his shoulder lightly. "Now try it on."

He stood up from the ledge and made a huge show on putting on the jacket and modeling it for Lily. She stood up and smiled.

"Yes, this looks very nice," she murmured, smoothing out creases on Rogers' shoulder.

"Of course it looks nice, I'm wearing it."

She made a face. "Always the modest one."

He laughed but smiled at her genuinely. "I appreciate this gift, Lily. You didn't have to get it. I don't hate you," he said seriously.

"Oh, I know you don't hate me, but I've learned that you do like to lean into the dramatics. Which is probably why you and Freddie get along so well. Honestly, I don't know who's the bigger hysterical queen, you or Freddie? My money's on the guy that throws things whenever he doesn't get his way."

"Because it's almost Christmas I'm going to chose to ignore that comment."

"Bet you're happy you got me as Secret Santa, right?"

And there it was, the smugness. But it didn't matter what he thought, he didn't get a chance to tell her. At that moment, someone called out Lily's name. Both turned around to see a tall man, standing by the fence, waving at them.

"Matt? What are you doing here?" Lily asked in surprised but rushed over to him, jumping into his arms. Seeing that she didn't scream at this stranger presence, he assumed that he was her boyfriend.

"I wanted to see you," the boyfriend said. Roger had to hide his derisive cough when he heard an American accent. Lily's American boyfriend explained her tendency to use American terms.

"You saw me today in the morning," Lily reminded him but sounded pleased.

"Yeah, but that's too long. And you said you came with John, I figured you needed a ride back."

"Really? That's why you're here?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, and also I wanted to convince you to come and join me with my parents."

"Matt," she started but he interrupted her.

"I know, I know you had plans for today but tomorrow you're free."

"I'm going to be with John."

"In the afternoon," he argued. "And my parents are…"

Roger decided to tune out their conversation, not interested in hearing the hardships of compromising and lit another cigarette.

"Alright," he heard Lily said, making him look over them. "Let me just go inside to get my things and go say goodbye to everyone."

She started to run off inside, when she stopped, looked over to Roger, who raised his hand as if to say he was still there.

"Shit, I am so rude," she said and reached over to drag her boyfriend towards Roger, "but Matt, this is Roger, he's in John's band. Roger, this is Matt, my boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you," the American said, extending his hand. Roger shook it firmly and felt him tightened his grip.

"Pleasure," he said shortly and let it go. Lily glanced between the two men, an unreadable expression on her face. When Roger caught her eye, she seemed to make up her mind.

"Be right back," she said and sprinted back inside, leaving Roger and the boyfriend alone.

"Got another one?" the American asked, nodding to Rogers cigarette.

"Sorry, last one," Roger said, shrugging.

"Ah, it's alright." The American heaved a sighed and just when Roger thought they were going to sit in silence, he spoke up again. "What were you and Lily doing outside?" he asked curiously.

"Smoke break," he said shortly, raising his cigarette.

"Oh, right."

Roger was thankful that it didn't take Lily too long to collect her things and say her goodbyes because he had no intention to make small talk with her American. She appeared a minute later, looking flushed and carried a handful of gifts. The American rushed to her side and took half of the baggage.

"I was wondering where did the hat go," the American commented, the Santa hat back on Lily's head. She shrugged and nudged him to the car. "Oh, Merry Christmas," he called out to Roger.

"Yeah, you too," Roger said.

"Happy Christmas, Roger," Lily told him, stopping in front of him.

"Happy Christmas," he said, and his eyes darted to Lily's boyfriend, that was already putting her things in his car. "American, really?" he said in a low voice earning an annoyed look from her.

"Goodbye, Roger," she said and went to join her boyfriend. He watched her get in the car and didn't look away until the car was out of his sight. Roger looked down at the jacket and felt the material under his fingertips. It was a really nice gift, one that he did not expect getting from Lily. But he had come to realize, that with Lily, he never knew what to expect from her.

He should've known that was probably what started it all.


	4. IV

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think about it! :)

* * *

**CHAPTER IV**

* * *

Before the whole Lily situation, it wasn't uncommon for Roger to be with a girl for a few weeks or months. It was rare when he was with someone for more than a year. One girl, in particular, Kathy, fell in the category of a few weeks. And the reason he even remembered her was because of Lily and her uncanny ability to make everything go back to her.

Like most girls, Roger had met Kathy at a bar after their band had played, and well, he had liked her enough to have her stick around. He wasn't her boyfriend and she wasn't her girlfriend, it was just something casual. She was just another girl that he would soon forget about, as horrible it sounded.

Everyone was so used to Roger's casual approach to romance that he didn't think anyone would say something about his current relationship with Kathy. But of course, that didn't happen this time around. Lily had to say something about it.

He was slowly realizing how nosy Lily was when it comes to people's love life. A prime example being Lily's obsession with trying to set up John, who refused to go on dates with the girls Lily always suggested (everyone was pretty sure John refused just to spite her). So, Roger should've known that he would fall victim of her nosiness at one point.

It happened one afternoon when Roger decided to show up extra early to practice because he wanted to try something new in his set and didn't want any of the guys inputting their 'helpful' suggestions. The first person to arrive had been Lily. He was surprised to see her alone, she usually showed up with John by her side, but gave her a nod in acknowledgment.

"Hello, hello," Lily said as she took a seat on the nearest couch. He didn't get a chance to say hello because she asked, "Why are you here alone? Where's your girlfriend?"

Roger ignored her greeting and frowned. "What?"

"Kathy," she elaborated, discarding her jacket and folding it neatly.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said quickly.

"Really?" she said and when he nodded, she did a poor job hiding her surprise. "Hmm."

"What now?" he said irritatedly, not liking the condescending tone Lily used.

"I didn't say anything," she said innocently, making him give her a glare. She relented easily. "Alright, Alright. Is just that… are you sure Kathy's not your girlfriend?"

"I would know if I had a girlfriend."

Lily laughed loudly as if that had been the funniest joke she's heard and shook her head. "No, you wouldn't."

"What do you mean I wouldn't?" he demanded.

"Sometimes guys are the last to know." Lily smiled at him. "And something tells me that you're not the person that is self-aware of their feelings."

He was offended at that, which honestly he shouldn't have. He had no idea how right she was going to be in the future, but at that moment, he saw himself as a man who knew what he felt.

"Kathy and are not in a relationship," he repeated firmly.

"Alright," she said and glanced around the studio. Something caught her attention and she stood up, going towards a chair. She picked up a sweater and examined it. Roger looked at her cautiously, she turned around, still holding the sweater. "Is this Kathy's?"

"I don't, I think so," he said slowly.

"Isn't this where you typically dumped all your stuff?"

"Yes."

"You know, I leave my stuff in my boyfriend's locker all that time," she said casually, putting down the sweater and going towards Roger, who sighed in exasperation.

"Kathy is not my girlfriend."

"Then why would Kathy leave a sweater in an area that is specifically yours if she's not your girlfriend?"

Roger opened his mouth but closed it, shaking his head. "Maybe someone moved it," he finally said.

"Maybe," she agreed easily. She glanced around the room again but made no move to go back to the couch. Her face was set in a frown as if she was concentrating something really hard on something. Roger had seen her wear that look often when she was about to do something that would annoy John and amuse Freddie.

"Why isn't John here?" he asked, feeling the need to distract Lily. Her head snapped towards him, taken back by his question. Her face furrowed as if concentrating.

"He forgot something home, so he told me to meet you guys here," she explained. "Where's Kathy?"

_Fuck_. So much for distracting Lily.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. He hadn't spoken with Kathy since he last saw her, which happened to be the previous night.

"Why do you think she's not your girlfriend?"

"Why do you think she's my girlfriend?" he shot back.

Lily brightened at that. "I am so glad you asked me that. Let's review your guy's history, shall we?"

"Please don't," he sighed. If Lily was questioning his relationship with Kathy, he was certain that Kathy herself would start asking questions about them and he didn't need that. "Why do you care if I have a girlfriend? Are you that bored with the American?"

"No, I'm not. I'm very happy with him, thanks for asking. Deacy says that I'm just annoying and nosy."

"Yeah, you are annoying and nosy and irritating," he agreed.

She didn't seem to be bothered hearing that. "Anyways, going back to you. There's a lot of signs that show you're in a relationship, and I am positive that you and Kathy meet many of them."

"I doubt it," he said flatly.

"Oh, you would be surprised," Lily disagreed. "Have you guys seen each other more than four days a week?"

"I'm not doing this," he warned her.

She continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I'm going with yes because I've seen you three times this week and so far she's been by your side each time and it's only Thursday."

Roger glared at Lily.

"Has she met all your friends? Again, I'm going with yes because you literally only hang out with the guys. Seriously, do any of you guys have friends outside of this group?"

Roger continued glaring at Lily.

"Does she spend the night? Wait. That's a stupid question. Of course, she does."

Roger grunted.

"Do you guys do more things besides having sex?"

Roger shook his head in disbelief. She needed to stop talking. She was making too much sense for his liking.

"Do you look forward to seeing her?"

Roger really wanted to shut Lily up.

"Do you notice when she's not around?"

Roger wondered how upset would John be if he threw his drum kit at Lily.

"Ooh, do you love her?" she asked teasingly.

"Lily," he gritted through his teeth, his finger curl around his drumsticks tightly. Lily seemed to notice that he was reaching the end of his patience and raised her hands in surrender. When she started heading back in the couch, Roger thought he had heard the end of it, but of course, it was Lily he was talking about.

"Your lack of answers is an answer itself. I know that you and Kathy check off at least half of it."

"Goddammit," he said under his breath.

"Whether you like it or not, she's your girlfriend, dude."

"Dude?"

"Matt says that's it's almost the same thing at mate," she explained.

"Matt's an idiot," Roger said flatly.

"But he's my idiot," Lily said fondly and Roger knew at that moment, no matter what requirements they checked off, that Kathy wasn't (and would probably never be) his girlfriend because there wasn't that fondness between Kathy and him that Lily had with her American.

"Hmm," Roger grunted, making Lily smiled at him.

"I like Kathy," Lily admitted. "She's… nice."

"You think everyone is nice."

"That's not true. I think you're an asshole," she corrected him, making him smile despite his irritation at her. "But going back to Kathy, to be honest, the reason I like her is that I feel like you're less temperamental with her around."

"What does that mean?"

"Means fewer things have been thrown."

"I'm about to change that if you don't stop talking Kathy," he warned her, wagging a drumstick at her menacingly.

"Alright, I get it, she's not your girlfriend. I am no longer going to say something."

Roger doubted she would keep her promises but nodded gratefully at her. "Finally something smart comes out of your mouth."

"Excuse you, I am very smart."

"If you say so," he said mockingly, making Lily make a rude hand gesture towards him. John appeared seconds later, looking out of breath and went straight to Lily.

"What's going on?" he asked, not missing the annoyed look on Roger's face and Lily's more than pleased expression.

"Nothing that should worry you," Lily said and pulled on his arm excitedly. "But I do have something to talk to you about."

"Oh no," John said, pulling away from her grip. "I know what it is and I don't want to hear it. I said no three times already."

"No, no, no it's not about Alice. I promise you," she assured him, making John stop trying to get away from her.

"What is it then?" he asked suspiciously.

"Are you free this Saturday? I wanted to invite you to dinner with me and Matt."

"Oh, right." John was silent for a long moment, making Roger glance over at them. John look like was struggling to find an excuse and still annoyed at Lily, Roger found himself speaking up.

"John can't go. We're going out to this bar on Saturday."

"Are you kidding me?" Lily said, looking at John skeptically, who nodded quickly.

"Roger didn't really give me much of choice," he said, shrugging.

"Oh." Lily looked disappointed but nodded. "That's alright. Another night then."

"Sorry, Lils," John said, sounding as if he was truly sincere about being supposedly busy that night. "Maybe next week. I promise I won't make plans."

"Fine," Lily said shortly, and promptly left the room. Roger looked at John curiously, and not surprisingly, John was too busy fiddling with his guitar to look over at him or Lily. Roger didn't get a chance to question him because soon everyone showed up, and the band started rehearsal.

Sometime between breaks, Roger had barely noticed that Kathy had shown up, and was talking to Lily and Mary. He felt a twinge annoyance at her announced appearance but he didn't let her know when she approached him during one of their breaks.

"Did you leave your jacket?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah, I did," Kathy said, glancing over where it was. "Why? Is it not there anymore?"

"It's there. Just don't leave it again," he said tersely and went back to his drums.

_And that's number four,_ Lily's cheery voice sounded in the back of his head as he went home with Kathy at the end of rehearsal.

A week later he broke things off with Kathy.

It wasn't because of the conversation he had with Lily, no matter what exasperated look she gave him when he showed up with a new girl a few days later. His reasoning behind it was that he wasn't as interested in Kathy as he was in the beginning. He didn't want to do something stupid like start ignoring her calls or be caught fooling around with another girl.

Like he had said, it wasn't unusual for him to move on from girl to girl in a span of few days. He wasn't a relationship person, unlike Freddie or Brian, or even Lily. Which is probably why he didn't see how much Lily's pesky questions had stuck in the back of his head.


	5. V

**Author's Note: **Okay so here is the next chapter, sorry it took a while. I hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think about it! :)

* * *

**CHAPTER V**

* * *

Surprisingly, Roger and John did end up going to a bar the day John was supposedly had to have dinner with Lily and her American. Roger felt a little odd being there with John, and it wasn't because it was just them two, but because of the giant elephant in the room: John's refusal to talk about Lily.

Every time Roger tried to approach the topic of her or the American, John would dodge his question and push the conversation to another topic. Roger wasn't typically nosy (unlike a certain redhead), but seeing John lie to his beloved Lily, definitely caught his attention. There was something missing in the equation and maybe it was because he was still irritated by Lily, but Roger really wanted to know what was going on between John and the happy couple.

"Next week, it's going to be Lily's birthday," John interrupted him when Roger mentioned Mary and Lily had been criticizing his hair a few days prior.

"What?" Roger coughed and put down his beer.

"We're going to throw her a surprise party the day of her birthday, this Friday," John continued. "It's going to be at her mother's house."

"Alright," Roger said slowly. "We don't have practice that day if that's what you're worried about."

John looked at him in exasperation. "Roger, I'm telling you so you can arrive before Lily. The guys are going to the party, just like you."

"Why would I go?" he asked stupidly, still not getting the big deal.

"Oh, god," John said under his breath, looking incredibly annoyed. He looked at Roger and said slowly, "Because I'm inviting you. Because Lily happens to like you."

"Lily likes me?" he asked in disbelief. Yes, she was nice to him when she saw him and got him a nice gift for Christmas, but he was sure she only tolerated him for John sake, but like him? He doubted.

"Yes, for some reason she really likes you."

"How are you sure about that?

"Because she's told me herself," he said impatiently. "So, because of that fact, you have to go to her birthday party. You would hurt her feelings if you didn't go."

Roger was still stuck in the fact that somehow, through all the pettiness and childishness, Lily liked him, even if it was just as a person.

"Why would Lily like me?" he asked, unable to keep his curiosity to himself.

"I'd like to think because, in a way, you and Lily are similar."

Roger snorted. "In what? That we're both mammals?"

"Don't be dense," John said, looking exasperated. Roger raised one of his hands in surrender. "You're still going to the party."

"Alright," Roger sighed heavily. Looks like he had plans for next Friday. "What time do you want me to be there?"

"Early, I don't have the exact time yet, but I will let you know soon," John said, getting up from his seat. "Be right back."

Roger nodded his attention now on his empty bottle. He needed a refill and tried to call the attention of the bartender. John paused and turned back to Roger, and said, "It's a small party, so don't bring a date."

"Alright."

"You need to come early, it's a surprise party."

"Alright."

"Oh, and you'll have to buy her a gift."

"I said, alright," Roger said in annoyance.

"Do not get her a scarf," John warned him as he started walking away from him.

"Oh come on, we both know she loves that scarf," Roger called after him, remembering seeing her multiple times wear the yellow scarf he gave her in Christmas. John threw him a look, before disappearing in the crowd. "Fuck," he hissed and when he finally got his beer, took a long gulp. What the fuck was he supposed to get Lily?

Despite almost knowing her almost over a year, he did not know Lily that well. What he did know was that she was four years younger than him, had known John her entire life, had horrible taste in men (seeing that she was dating an American out of every nationality), was always cold, was deathly allergic to cats (which didn't stop her from hugging Freddie's cats) and was super nosy.

What kind of gift could he get her from that information?

"A cat?" he wondered out loud but shook his head. He didn't want her to die. "A new boyfriend," he muttered sarcastically but laughed in disbelief, crossing that idea off. That would not go well with either Lily or John or Mary or the American. Christ, how many people loved that girl? He sighed heavily, realizing that he was going to put a lot of effort on a girl that he wasn't even going to sleep with.

* * *

After mulling about it at night (meaning he got drunk and found a pretty girl to take home) Roger decided it wouldn't hurt to ask Brian for advice. He had gotten Lily as secret Santa, and Lily had seemed pretty happy with the gift she received.

"What are you going to give Lily?" Roger asked Brian when he saw him a day later.

"For her birthday?"

"Yes, what else would I be talking about?" Roger asked impatiently.

"I got her a sweater," Brian said simply.

"A sweater?" Roger frowned, instantly regretting asking Brian. That was a stupid gift, more than books.

"Mary was the one that told me of a sweater that Lily had been eyeing," he defended himself, seeing the expression on Rogers' face.

Roger attitude shifted at that new information. "Mary helped you?"

"Yeah, I had no idea what to get her, just like you, it seems and she was nice enough to help me."

"Really?" Roger hummed, leaving Brian alone and quickly changed his tactics, but unfortunately, asking Mary proved no help at all when he went to visit her afterward while she was working.

"You men are unbelievable," she said as Roger trailed after her around the store. "I had to help Freddie, Brian and now you? No, I am done. You need to figure it out on your own."

"What? Come on," Roger groaned. "Just give me something. I don't want to give her a shit gift and have Deacy on my back."

"You literally cannot think of one thing that Lily might like?"

"No," he said stubbornly. "Come on, Mary. Don't you love Lily? I don't think you do because it seems that you want me to give her a shit gift and ruin her birthday."

"Don't be dramatic, Roger."

"I'm not being dramatic. I am being realistic, I'm going to be the reason Lily birthday is ruin and it's going to be your fault I ruined it."

"Nice try, Roger, but no," Mary said firmly. "You're not a child. You can think of something to get Lily. It doesn't have to be something grand. It can be something small but meaningful."

Then she proceeded to kick him out of the store when he made it clear that he wasn't going to purchase anything from there. He glared at Mary as she pushed him out the door. Great, not only had he wasted his time, he still didn't have a clue what to give Lily.

Roger needed to get something for her, it was the least he could for the nice present she gave him for Christmas. He had to come up with something in those few days before the party.

* * *

No matter how much he dreaded the day to come, it was finally the day of Lily's party and Roger still had nothing for her. He was tempted to skip the party but wasn't that stupid to go through it. He could already imagine the shit he would get from John and Mary, and even the disappointed look from Lily.

As he did the walk of shame to the location of the party, across the street, a flower vendor was yelling, waving flower bouquets in the air. Roger stopped walking and furrowed his brows, the wheels inside his brain turning. Lily seemed the type of girl to like flowers, for God sake her name was after a flower. Glancing both ways, he crossed the street and bought yellow roses that had a mixture of small white and pink flowers.

It wasn't much but it was something and at that moment it was all that mattered for Roger as he rushed off. When he arrived at Lily's mother's house, he was dismayed to realize that he had shown up late. Lily was already there as she was the first person he saw when he opened the door.

"Roger, you made it," she greeted him, giving him a wide smile and going over to him. He smiled sheepishly as he hugged her awkwardly, still holding onto the bouquet.

"Happy birthday, Hathaway. I am so sorry for coming late."

"Thank you and it's alright. You're here, that is all that matters," she said and her eyes went to his hand. Her eyes widened, an expression he couldn't identify crossing her face. "Are those for me?"

"Oh, yes, this is yours," he said and handed it to her hastily. She stared at the flowers for second before slowly taking them from him. He felt a little unnerved of her calm demeanor. She hated them, he could already tell. "I'm sorry about the flowers. I didn't really know what to get you and…" he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"What? No," she said, looking at him in shock. "I love them."

"Are you sure? I can get..."

"Roger, shut up," she said with a firmness that made him do as he was told. "I. Love. Them. You just made my day."

"Really?" he asked skeptically. The flowers were pretty but nothing to get excited about.

"Yes, really," she said and gave him a genuine smile.

It was times like these that made Roger glad at what a happy camper Lily could be. She just helped him dodge a bullet from John. He found himself smiling back at Lily.

"I'm glad you don't hate them," he said. Mary appeared out of nowhere, getting the attention of Lily.

"Come on, Rosemary found the camera," she told her and when she saw Roger standing there, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will get to you later."

"Oh, leave him alone, Mary," Lily chastised her. "He's here and that's all that matters. Look, what he got me." She waved the flowers in Mary's face. "They're so beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Mary agreed reluctantly, grabbing Lily's free arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Thank you for the flowers. I love them," Lily called out as she was being dragged and pointed to a doorway. "The boys are in the living room."

Nodding his appreciation, Roger made his way to the living room, which wasn't hard. The house was incredibly small and from the looks of it, there were about twenty guests at the party. He heard the guys before he saw them.

"Over here, darling," Freddie called his name, and by his side were Brian and John.

"I know, I know," Roger said, already expecting John's wrath, as he reached them. "I'm sorry about being late, but Lily didn't care. She said I was happy I made it."

"I am honestly not surprised you came late," John admitted. "Besides, it's Lily's birthday. I'll have Brian punch you tomorrow."

Brain laughed and Roger even found himself smiling at that.

"Alright, noted," he said and glanced around the living room. "Is there anything to drink?"

"Oh, right there," Freddie pointed out to a small table that was connected to the kitchen.

"Great," Roger said, needing something strong to get him in the mood for a party. For the majority of the party, Roger stayed with the guys. He was introduced to Lily's mother and younger sister at one point, and he was surprised that neither of them were redheads like the birthday girl. Roger couldn't find Lily's father and that was when John quietly told him that Lily's father had passed away two years ago.

Roger was also introduced to many of Lily's friends, many of which happened to be girls. He usually was all over the pretty girls, but not that day. It wasn't because he was crammed with strangers in a small place, he was more than used to that, but something about them being friends with Lily and him flirting with them didn't sit right with him. So, Roger just drank and talked to Brian or Freddie. John and Mary would come and go, both more comfortable being there than the rest.

"Why are you here?" Roger asked Freddie at one point, confused why Freddie was with them, instead of being the life of the party that he usually was.

"Mary warned me not to make this about me. This is Lily's day and I will respect that," Freddie said, shrugging. Roger looked at him doubtfully, knowing that was not enough to keep Freddie in check.

"But Lily did ask me to sing for her and I will respect the birthday girls wishes. It is going to be spectacular."

There it is, Roger thought, shaking his head in amusement. And just as Freddie promised, Lily approached them an hour later and grabbed Freddie's hand.

"Come on," she told him loudly, her face flushed. Roger was pretty sure she was a little tipsy. "It's time for you to turn this into a real party."

"I thought you would never ask, darling," Freddie grinned at her and allowed her to drag him away from the guys. Lily stopped in front of Mary and talked to them, her hands moving around wildly and almost tripped on the spot.

Yep, she was definitely more than tipsy.

"Is Freddie going to sing?" Brian asked in confusion when nothing was happening after a few minutes.

"After the cake," John said, appearing on Roger's left side. He was carrying a bottle for some reason and offered them a refill which they accepted it.

"Not that we're judging, God knows we've done that many times, but any particular reason for that?" Brian asked, pointing at the bottle.

"It's a party, people drink," John said simply.

"But do you think it's a good idea to drink an entire bottle of whiskey in your best friends birthday?"

"Yes," John said shortly and took a long swing from the bottle. Brain looked like he was about to say something, but Roger stepped in.

"When is cake time?" Roger asked and his question was answered at that moment.

"Cake time," Lily's mother announced excitedly, which made Roger smile. Well, that explained where Lily got her perky personality. John noticed Rogers expression and nodded knowingly.

"Lily is a lot like her mother. Romantic, happy go lucky, super enthusiastic, whatever you want to call it. It's infectious."

"Annoying more like it," Roger muttered, taking a drink, but grinned when Lily practically ripped off the arm of her boyfriend, who had been by her side all afternoon, as she dragged him to the table where the cake was. Lily's mother brought the cake and placed it in front of Lily. Freddie then proceeded to belt out the happy birthday song, and a few brave people joined him.

"Oh, thank God," John said out of nowhere making Roger and Brian look at him strangely. For some reason, John looked relieved.

"What are you talking about?" Roger asked, looking away from Lily.

"I thought Matt hadn't gotten Lily flowers," he explained, nodding to the flowers Roger had given to Lily, which had been placed on the table where the cake was.

"Actually..." Roger started to say but was cut off by Brian, like always.

"Why does it matter? They're just flowers."

"You try telling that to Lily. She's always demanded to get flowers on her birthday. I would have bought her flowers, I usually am the one, but she has Matt and I felt like it wasn't appropriate for me to give them to her." John shrugged, looking slightly awkward. "But... I am super glad that Matt held up his deal of the bargain. Flowers make Lily a happy girl."

"Are you serious?" Roger asked, glancing at the flowers and then at Lily. He had to bite a smug grin at how he did a better job giving Lily a gift than her boyfriend because he sure as hell didn't get her those flowers.

"She's a little insane about it, I think its a name thing. One time she didn't get one and threw such a fit. Sure, she was twelve but I am glad that she got the one thing that always makes her happy."

"Looks like Matt is going to have a good night tonight," Brian said, giving John a suggestive.

"Ah, stop it," John grimaced. "Lily does not have sex. She plays chess with Matt at night."

"Wow, it looks like Lily and I have so much in common," Roger teased, laughing along Brian. "We should get together one night and play chess."

John bumped into Roger hard, making him spill some of his drink into his shirt. "Fuck, John," he groaned, clumsily wiping himself.

They had been distracted talking that they hadn't realized everyone around them had stopped singing. Roger looked over in time to see Matt leaning in to whisper something to Lily. She looked at him curiously as he disappeared into the kitchen. Seconds later, he came back, holding a huge bouquet of flowers that made Rogers look like a sad weed.

"What?" Roger said in disbelief and wasn't the only one.

"Wait, what?" John said, frowning in confusion, looking at the other bouquet.

"Oh, my goodness," Lily said, grinning at Matt. "You got me flowers?"

He laughed at her reaction and said, "Did you really think I wouldn't get you flowers, Lils? What kind of boyfriend I would be?"

She laughed and pulled him into a hard kiss, the flowers almost being crushed by their bodies. Mary was quick to go in between them and pull the flowers from harm's way. When they stopped kissing, Lily hugged him and mouthed something to Mary who nodded knowingly.

"If those are Matt's flowers, then who gave Lily those flowers?" John asked them as if they had the answer.

"Maybe a friend of hers," suggested Brian, not seeing the big deal.

"Does she even like petunias?" Roger asked snidely.

"I don't think so," John said, glancing at Roger, who was staring at Matt's flowers with a look of contempt. For some reason, Roger felt slightly irritated that Lily had a more positive reaction at Matt's flower than his. Which was really stupid if he thought about it, he gave her flowers as a last resort. He wasn't trying to impress her, he just didn't want to look like a jerk for showing up empty-handed.

They were just stupid flowers. He shouldn't be annoyed whether Lily had liked them more than her Americans. But it did bother him, and he didn't know why.

"I'm going to get a drink," he muttered and went back to the kitchen, not waiting for either of the guys to respond. He was surprised that there was a girl in the kitchen, and he cleared his throat making his presence known. The girl jumped in surprise, almost dropping the glass that she had in her hand.

"Oh, shit," she gasped. "You scared me."

"Sorry about that," he apologized and went to the counter, picking up the first bottle he could find, refilling his glass. He could see in the corner of his eye the girl checking him out.

"I'm Olivia, Lily's friend," she introduced herself when he turned to face her.

"Roger," he said, and didn't bother to state his relationship with Lily, because honestly, he was not quite sure what they were. Friends didn't sound quite right, but neither did acquaintances. He was glad that Lily's friend didn't seem to care how he knew Lily because she made it clear that she knew him.

"You're Roger Taylor, the drummer from Smile, right?"

"We're Queen now actually, but yes, I'm Roger Taylor, the one and only," he said, smiling pleasantly. He glanced over his shoulder as if someone might appear from behind him and yell at him for talking to Lily's friend. When no one appeared, he looked back at her and asked, "Have you seen us play?"

"Lily dragged me to one of your shows," she said, getting closer to him. "You guys are really good. Lily said so, but it's not the same hearing it from someone than actually being there and listening in person."

"Really? Is that all Lily said about us? We're good?"

"Maybe," Olivia said, giving him a flirtatious smile. "But one thing for sure she didn't tell me was how attractive the drummer was."

Rogers smile then became wider. Suddenly Lily and the stupid flowers meant nothing to him. And if someone called him out at his sudden change of attitude towards Lily's friends, he would ignore them. It was a goddamn party and if he chooses to flirt with one of Lily's friends just because he could so be it.


	6. VI

**Author's Note: **Here is the next chapter! This is my longest chapter yet for this story, but I really am happy with how this one turned out.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter! :)

* * *

**CHAPTER VI**

* * *

There were many occasions where Roger would spend time alone with Lily, but there was something about pubs that always stood out of all their interactions. Maybe because he was always filled with an adrenaline rush after a performance or because alcohol was included or a combination of both.

It really was stupid for him to go back to those moments because nothing really ever happened, they didn't bond over their mutual love for alcohol or he suddenly realized that she was the best thing in his life. Most of the time they talked about everything and nothing.

He could clearly remember the early days on how frustrated he would get that Queen was still playing in pubs. He wanted to go play somewhere bigger, with a crowd that wasn't half-drunk and paid more attention to what they were drinking than to who was performing.

But no matter how much he grumbled and threw things out of windows, there wasn't much Roger could do. He had to be patient and continue playing, according to Brian, and keep hoping the band would get their big break one of these days.

"Hi Roger!" a girl called out his name as he entered the stage. He had no idea who that was but he smiled widely, loving the attention.

"Hi John!" another girl called out loudly and that time, Roger knew exactly who it was. He shook his head in amusement as he took a seat in front of his drums. He couldn't see her, with the glaring lights and the crowd, but he could already imagine Lily waving wildly at John, telling every person next to her that the bass player was her best friend.

Queen might not be famous yet, but at least they could count with their number one groupie (although if he ever said that out loud, Lily would throw his drum set through the window).

"Ready, Roger?" Brain asked him, making him quickly forget about everything around him.

"Ready," he said confidently and then looked over at their lead singer. "Ready, Freddie?"

"Always, darling," Freddie said and that was the signal for Roger to count off. Once they started playing, Roger immersed himself in the show and the crowd's energy. Too quickly for his liking, they finished their show and were being praised by the crowd's loud applause.

"Woohoo! Go John!" he managed to hear Lily shout over the clapping and yelling. When she wanted, as she had proven when she got drunk, Lily had a really loud voice. He could see John wear a pleased smile. Roger could say whatever he wanted about her, but he could never take away what a loyal friend Lily was.

Once they got off the stage, Roger chose to follow John, mostly because he was heading to the bar. He wasn't surprised to see Lily waiting for them already, but was to see two drinks for them ready.

"As congratulations for doing an excellent job," she said, handing John his beer and then Roger his.

"Hmm, I finally see the use of you," Roger teased, making Lily huff and try to take his beer away but he was quick to lean back and take a huge gulp from it. "Hmm, thank you, Lily. You are so very kind."

"If you think that's going to stop me from taking it from you, you are sorely mistaken," she warned him and tried to get it again but that time was stopped by John. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into her stool making her almost lose her balance. Roger was quick to grab her from falling and help her sit back down properly.

"You're welcome," he said, giving her an expectant look when she said nothing.

"I'm sorry but you were expecting a thank you? It was your fault I almost fell," she argued.

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was, Roger."

"I was about to leave you two alone but I changed my mind," John said, not giving Roger to say something back to Lily. "I clearly can't have you two alone. You are like children."

Roger and Lily shared equally offended looks.

"I was being nice, like always, and then he had to act like an asshole, like always," Lily accused Roger, throwing him a dirty look, although it had no malice.

"I wasn't the asshole. You—" Roger stopped talking, realizing they were not helping their case and shook his head. "Fine, whatever."

"Children," John repeated, shaking his head at them in exasperation, and then looked around, frowning. "Why are you alone, Lily? Where's Matt? I thought he was going to come with you?"

Lily's smile slipped slightly but it came right back. "He was busy with studying. He says that next time for sure he will be here."

"I bet he will," John said, giving her a smile that didn't seem genuine, which made Lily give him a look that Roger wasn't sure what it meant. They shared another silent look that made Roger feel like he was the third wheel.

The longer he knew John and Lily, he began to understand their strange but close friendship. No matter how much he and Brian had given shit to John in the beginning, it was clear that those two were simply friends. They might clash in many things, from small to big, but were loyal friends nevertheless.

"Did you know Matt is studying biology like you?" Lily asked Roger out of nowhere, finally breaking her staring contest with John and looked over to him.

"Oh really?" Roger said without much interest, but privately glad that she had invited him in the conversation. He was seconds away from walking away and chatting up that brunette girl who hadn't stopped staring at him at the end of the bar.

"Yes, you two have a lot in common if you bothered to talk to him."

"Yeah, okay, next time, I'll give him all my attention," Roger said, humoring her. She looked at him suspiciously but didn't say anything to him, making him sigh. Why wasn't when he wanted to rile her up, she would act like an adult and not take his bait? He would never understand her.

"Why are you even studying Biology anyways?" she asked curiously.

"He's going to be a dentist," John pipped in, earning him a harsh shove. "What? It's the truth. A dentist is an honest job, and you need one, Rog, so you can become an honest man."

"Funny," Roger said dryly.

"Really? You want to be a dentist?" Lily said, unable to mask her shock.

"Yes," Roger admitted reluctantly. "Why is that so hard to believe? What do you think I would be studying?"

Lily looked flushed, trying to explain herself. "I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Roger," John warned him, knowing him well enough to know he was close to being an asshole.

"Sorry," Roger said. "But I do want to know why you are so surprised?"

"I mean, you seem so determined to make it big with the band, be a rockstar. So I never really thought you had another career for yourself."

"Roger is actually pretty smart," John told Lily. "Would be top of his class if he didn't spend more time flirting than paying attention in class."

"But I've passed all my classes and that's all that matters."

"Why do you want to be a dentist?" Lily asked.

"Don't answer the question," Roger warned John who was going to answer for him again.

"I wasn't going to answer it," John said, but his mischievous grin told Roger otherwise. John leaned into Lily and whispered loudly, "He wants to do it for the money."

"John," Roger snapped. "I'm never telling you anything again."

"Ah, come on, everybody knows that you're a one-track mind. You want something, and you make it happen. No matter how stupid your end goal is."

"Thanks, John," Roger said dryly and quickly finished his beer.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, I wasn't finished."

"Oh really? Please do continue and insult me."

Lily smacked his shoulder lightly. "We don't know what he's going to say. What were you getting at, Deaky?"

"I was trying to say that so what if you're in it for the money? You knew what you wanted and you're getting it."

"And the fact that you're willing to take incredibly hard classes and spend many years in school, that's impressive," Lily added and raised her beer. "So, here's to Roger and his ambition. May it take you everywhere you want to go."

"I'll drink to that," John said, sharing a grin with Lily. Roger shook his head in disbelief at the two of them but couldn't help and grin.

"Nice save," he said dryly.

"Damn, with one studying astrophysics, another electrical engineer and now one wanting to be a dentist, add the heavy load of being in a band, it explains why a lot of you guys don't have proper friends," Lily said.

"What about Freddie?" John asked her, noticing she omitted their lead singer.

"Like school would get in the way for Freddie to make friends," Lily laughed. "He could go to the loo and he would come back with a new best friend."

"Proper fr―I have friends," Roger defended himself, more annoyed that she thought they were friendless losers.

"Oh really, who?" she asked mockingly

"John's my friend."

"He doesn't count," Lily said at the same time John mouthed no. Roger looked at the person he thought was his friend in disbelief.

"Okay then," Roger snapped. "Next time you need someone to pick you up when you're drunk and bring you a ham sandwich don't be calling me at one in the morning."

"Roger," John hissed, his eyes darting at Lily, and giving him a subtle shake with his head, but it was too late. Lily was looking between the two men.

"What?" both Lily and John said at the same time, but in different tones. One displeased and the other one like they had no idea what was wrong.

"You were drunk and needed a ride and didn't tell me?"

"It happened barely a few weeks ago," John played it off as not a big deal.

"Alright then, why did you call Roger instead of me?" Lily asked, looking slightly bothered.

"You were with Matt, okay? I didn't want to bother you," John said quietly and after giving Lily a reassuring nod, she proceeded to move on to her next question.

"Fine, but why didn't you―?"

"No, wait, I have a question myself," Roger cut her off and turned to John. "I'm not your friend?"

There was an off chance that John was being his usual sarcastic self, but he had said no so quickly that it made Roger doubt their friendship. He was confident that all four of them were friends, with how much time they spent on and off stage. Sure, John could still be considered the new one of the band, but Roger and he had gotten to know each other really well.

"Roger, obviously I was joking," John said, breaking Roger from his doubts. "Of course we're friends. Why did you think I called you that night? I knew, even when I was drunk off my mind, that you would have picked me up at any time of the night. And I would have done the same thing for you."

"But why Roger?" Lily asked. "Brian has a car too."

"Brian would have probably told me to call Roger," John said jokingly. "Only Roger would do crazy things for a friend at one in the morning."

"Yeah, like bringing you a sandwich for your drunk ass," Roger reminded her, grinning slightly.

"Which my drunk self appreciated, so here's another one for you Roger," John said, raising his beer, making Roger roll his eyes.

"I need new friends," he muttered to himself, making John laugh. Lily, on the other hand, was frowning.

"Why ham?" she asked. "You don't like ham."

"I didn't have turkey," Roger shrugged.

"I always have turkey," Lily muttered childishly, making Roger make a face at her and she returned it.

"Hey," John said, stopping them from getting into another petty argument. "Why isn't Olivia here?"

It took a minute for Roger to realize that the question was directed at him.

"Couldn't make it," he said forcefully. He was pretty sure that Olivia had a school thing to attend but he wasn't sure. All he knew was that Olivia couldn't attend and that was fine with him. She didn't need to come to every show of his, they weren't a couple. They hadn't even shagged.

"Oh, so both of you are on your own," John said. Roger glanced at Lily, expecting to hear her say something but she didn't seem to be paying attention, her gaze somewhere else in the bar.

"It looks like it," Roger said and smirked. "But not for long."

Lily looked over him, rolling her eyes. "Are you always this cocky?"

"Yes, all the time," John said, sounding exhausted at the reminder of Roger's large ego.

"Well," Roger said, and tilted his head, pretending to think about it. "The second I got off stage, a decent looking girl gave me a free drink. I didn't even have to make an effort." He looked back at her and flashed her a smug grin. "So, yes, I can afford to be cocky."

"Decent looking girl? You―decent looking girl?" Lily looked outraged to Roger's delight. "You're so full of yourself. Not every girl that you come across is going to fall in love with you."

"Trust me I know," Roger said. "I've met so many girls that hate me the moment they meet me. They think I'm arrogant, selfish, have nothing but my looks…"

"Obnoxious, unpunctual," John unhelpfully adds.

"Thank you, John," Roger said sarcastically. "You've made your point."

"I've got your back, Rog. Are you sure you don't need anymore? I can go on."

"Anyways," Roger said loudly, ignoring John's offer. "As you can see, the list goes on."

"Well, are they wrong?" Lily asked, raising one of her eyebrows expectantly.

"I don't know, you tell me," Roger shot back.

"So, far you haven't done a good job to make me think otherwise."

He scoffed, knowing that Lily liked him, and was just being hard on him.

"That's fine. Like you said, I don't expect everyone to fall in love with me," he shrugged, earning a look of what appeared to be disgust from Lily. "Don't look at me like that, at least I can be a man about it and admit it."

"That doesn't make it right."

"Never said it was."

That moment, someone called out John's name, making him look over the crowd. He looked over at his two friends, who were still fighting over the beer. Lily noticed his hesitation and smiled encouragingly at him.

"Go, Deacy. We'll be fine, we've been alone before and I haven't killed him. I won't kill him now, I promise. Besides I'm going to find Mary any second."

"See? We can be alone. Lily and I are…" Roger trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Mates," Lily filled in for Roger. He thought about it for a second before he raised his beer towards her and with a clink, they solidified their friendship. John didn't seem to entirely convince but looked back to where he was wanted and sighed.

"Behave," John warned Roger, who gave him a look of disbelief. To Lily, Roger didn't hear because he leaned and whispered something quickly before he left. Roger instantly was suspicious at how amused Lily looked.

"What did he say?"

"That you should buy me a drink cause you were rude for calling me decent looking," she said, giving him an innocent smile.

"I only buy drinks to girls that I plan to… well let's just say that unless you and I are going to get busy in a bathroom stall…"

Lily made a face of disgust. "Please tell me that you're joking."

Roger raised his eyebrows, questioningly.

"Have you really shagged someone in a bathroom in a pub?"

Roger laughed, not really surprised that's what bothered her more than him making a blatant pass at her.

"It's fun. You should try it with your American, maybe he'll loosen up."

Lily looked at him in confusion. "Why would he need to loosen up?"

"I'm studying biology yet I'm here. Why isn't Matt really here?"

"He likes to study ahead of tests," she defended him. "He struggles with memorizing important concepts. Also, he's not much of a pub person. Which is a shame. He's missing the authentic experience of being in England."

"He's never been to one?"

"No, he has been to one once. Actually, that's how we met, during one of your shows."

"Lucky, Matt. First night out and he snags a girlfriend," Roger said sarcastically. That little fact irritated him for some reason.

Lily seemed to remember something else because she perked up. "Actually, I met him the night John performed with you guys for the first time. Oh my God. That is so strange. Imagine if John hadn't joined you guys, I wouldn't have met Matt."

"Wait, hold on, you were at Deacy's first show?" Roger frowned, not remembering seeing her or even John mentioning her. Granted, he had been more focused at berating Freddie afterward for messing up one of their songs than checking out who was with their newest bassist.

"Of course I was there. What kind of friend would I be and not support Deacy's first performance? He was there because of me after all."

"You were the one that forced him to audition?" Roger asked. Now that he did remember. John had admitted during his audition that he was only doing it because a friend of his had badgered him to give it a chance. He should have known that was Lily.

"Yes, aren't you thankful for me now?" she said, nodding and getting distracted by a new song that started playing. "This is a good song. I wonder who plays it?"

Roger looked at Lily, his mind still on her forcing John to try out for their band. He wouldn't tell her, but he was honestly grateful for her persistence at that moment. If it weren't for her, John would have never joined their band and they would have been in even worse shape.

"What?" she said when she caught him staring at her.

He cleared his throat and tried to shrug it off. "Uh, just thinking what is an American doing here? In England?"

"Ever heard of foreign exchange students?" she asked him.

"I'm not stupid," he said shortly.

"Never said you were," she said, grinning at him. "But that's the reason why Matt is here. He's studying for a year and then he's going back to the US."

"And what's going to happen to him when he has to go back? Are you going to break up?"

Lily did not look amused at that question. "No, we won't. We'll still be together," she said and didn't add anything else in the matter. Roger realized he hit a sore topic. He was about to say something but Lily said, "I really enjoyed your performance. Especially your drum solo in the last song. Keep Yourself Alive, right?"

"Yeah, that's the name of the song. You liked my solo?" he asked, feeling the familiar pride whenever someone complimented him or the band. He would never grow tired of hearing them.

"Yes, you're very good. I remember you guys played that song in Freddie and John's first performance."

Roger nodded. "Yeah, we play that song in many of our performances."

"I know, I think the second time I saw you guys, you played it," she said and frowned. "No, the third time. I was with Olivia when you played that song. I came along the second time."

Roger tensed up at the mention of Olivia, but Lily didn't say anything on the matter. She continued talking about their performance and how she loved it. While he typically didn't mind hearing about their performance, he was more distracted by the fact that Lily hadn't brought up Olivia. He knew Lily was aware of the two of them, Olivia had told him herself the last time he saw her.

Almost an entire month had passed since he had met Olivia and things surprisingly had been going slow. He will admit a part of it had to be that he didn't want to deal with Lily's nosiness. He knew that if things between Olivia and him passed the flirtation phase, any second Lily would be pestering.

"I can't believe I am saying this," he said, interrupting her mid-sentence, "but why haven't you said a word about me and Olivia?"

Lily looked taken back at that and put down her beer. She looked thoughtful before speaking. "I know that in the past I have been nosy about your… flings," she said and made a face at her choice of word.

"Flings work," he said. "And yeah, that's an understatement of you being nosy."

She winced. "Right, I was overbearing and I know that is not a good thing. I can't help it sometimes. I just, I guess that's just how I am. And I realized that it wasn't a good thing so I am trying to be less nosy and just mind my own business. I honestly don't know how Deacy does it. Did you know that not once had he said something about who I dated?"

"Really?" Roger was a little surprised, but honestly, he shouldn't be. John always minded his own business and avoided getting involved in the fights that he, Brian and Freddie would get during rehearsal. Why wouldn't he do the same in other aspects of his life?

"Yes. He says it's not his place to tell me who I should and shouldn't date. He's not my father, he's my friend."

"Must be nice."

Lily gave him an amused look. "I deserve that. But from now on, I am going to try to be a little like Deacy and mind my own business."

Roger snorted at that. "How drunk are you?"

"I am serious. I am not going to say anything about anyone's business."

"Sure," Roger said mockingly.

"You know what, Roger? I am trying here to be a better person but you're just being an asshole," Lily said defensively. "Fuck you."

"Shit, I think that's the first time I have heard you say fuck."

"Fuck off."

Roger laughed at her choice of words and shook his head.

"Alright, alright. I'm being an asshole but you don't have to worry about that. I don't know how much Olivia has told you but we're not together, just to make it clear," he said, putting it out there.

"Oh, I know that, and I'm not going to say something, no matter how much I want. I crossed a line with Kathy and I don't want to do that with Olivia, despite that she's my friend. You two can do whatever you want… well, as long as no one ends up getting hurt."

"Really?" he said doubtfully

"Yes, but just be honest with her. If you want her to be your girlfriend, then let her know. If that's the opposite of what you want, be clear with her."

"I don't want a girlfriend," Roger found himself saying, and Lily didn't seem bothered to hear that.

"That's alright." Lily shrugged. "But like I said, just be honest with her."

The turn of the conversation was not what Roger expected but didn't mind it. He honestly expected Lily to force him to stay away from her friend or meddle between him and Olivia.

"I mean, but just a warning, if you decide to date Olivia, I am going to basically know everything that happens between the two of you."

Roger did not like the sound of that. "Um, sorry, what?"

"You do know that girls like to share pretty much everything? Especially about their relationship. Mary talks to me about her and Freddie all the time. I do the same with me and Matt. So, don't be surprised if I know what's going on between the two of you.

"Oh, great," Roger said unenthusiastically and drank from his beer. "What exactly does that mean?"

"You know, what goes on the streets and what goes under the sheets. Like how I know that nothing has happened in the sheets. Which made me think that Olivia was talking about someone else for a second."

"I can be old fashioned," Roger said shortly, making her grin at him.

"Good to know."

"I can be."

"I never said you couldn't. I believe that you're a good old fashion lover boy as they say," she said, making Roger eye her suspiciously.

"Wait, wait," Roger said, something coming back to him. "Did any of the girls I have been with ever said something to you?"

Roger could recall seeing a few of the girls he had brought to rehearsal, talking to Lily and Mary. He never put much thought about it, figuring they talked about meaningless things, like clothes or the weather or whatever they had in common but now he was having his doubts.

Lily shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Yes, it did matter, Roger wanted to tell her but he didn't. He bit his tongue and continued drinking his beer. Maybe he was better off not knowing what his past flings had said about him to Lily. They didn't matter, he had moved on from them. Also, Lily didn't look too disgusted by him so it probably wasn't all that bad what had been said about him.

Unfortunately, Olivia didn't exactly fit in with the other flings. One, because they hadn't even done anything, simply flirted (and kissed a few times). But he knew the biggest problem was that every shitty thing he would do, Lily would find out and he just didn't want to deal with all of that.

Lily, as if being able to sense Rogers' uneasiness, spoke up. "If it makes you that uncomfortable, I will tell Olivia that I am not interested to hear about you two. I'll tell her it's a conflict of interest."

Roger smiled at her wryly, even though he was slightly relieved at hearing that. "I appreciate the sentiment but let's not jump to conclusions. I don't even know if I even like Olivia."

Lily made a face that he had come to know pretty well.

"What?" he sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Just say it. I'm afraid if you don't speak you might explode and somehow that is going to be my fault."

"No, no. I am no longer going to say anything to you regarding your romantic life. I made a promise and I am going to stick to it. No matter how much is killing me on the inside."

"That is not going to last at all," Roger said which prompted them into an argument that honestly was pretty ridiculous. They would take a break to order more alcohol, and the more they drank, the more stupid their arguments would become.

"Are you joking?" Roger scoffed when he learned of Lily's favorite drink.

"Are you joking?" Lily mocked him. "Nope, I am very serious."

"Why do I even talk to you?"

"Cause I believe we just established our friendship." She then ordered another round for the two of them, giving the bartender her most charming smile. Roger was impressed that she managed to get the bartender to hand them their drinks quickly. "Here's your drink and shut up."

"Just for that, you're buying the next round," Roger told her.

"I just did," she said, making Roger snort. "I have been paying for most of them. When are you going to order one?"

"Next round," he promised and grunted when he felt someone bump into him, making the beer get on his clothes. "Dammit."

"Oh, I am so sorry," a girl said, giving him an apologetic smile. Roger glanced at her and waved her off.

"Don't worry about it," he said and turned back to Lily who was doing a poor job to hide her laughter. "Shut up, next round is on you."

"You just said you were paying for the next one."

"That was before beer went all over me," he grumbled, still trying to dry his shirt.

Lily shook her head in a condescending manner. "She did it on purpose. She's been trying to catch your attention for the past ten minutes. I thought you were just playing hard to get."

"Really?" he said and looked back but saw that the girl was still lingering. She brightened when she caught his eye. He gave her a faint smile and looked back at Lily. "What can I say? They just love me."

"Or you can say you're just full of yourself," Lily said, making him laugh.

He wasn't going to admit it but Roger had become so caught up arguing with Lily about how disgusting rum tasted with coke that he had missed that girl had been trying to get his attention for quite a while.

(Roger should have known that wasn't going to be the last time he would forget about everything around him all because of Lily.)

"You can go," she said, dismissing him sloppily with her hand. Roger had lost count how much they had been drinking, but one thing he did know was that Lily was definitely drunk. "I don't want you to be throwing it to my face that I was the reason you didn't have any fun tonight. Even though I am very fun. Super fun."

"Thank you for being considerate," he said, smiling. "But I will pass that offer."

"Really? Why? You don't like brunettes? I know you do cause Olivia is a brunette."

"No, not because of that." He hesitated for a second before saying, "I'm staying because while I am not officially with Olivia, maybe I will at one point. So why should I be looking for other girls? I was joking about flirting with other girls earlier."

When Lily didn't say anything, just stared at him with an expression he couldn't decipher, he added hastily, "Also, you're very drunk, I am not leaving you here alone with these heathens."

He wasn't the only one that had noticed the attention the other one was drawing. Quite a few men had stopped by them, and done terrible jobs to hide their stares towards Lily. Roger hadn't brought it up because there was no harm in staring and Lily wasn't uncomfortable by their stares.

"You're a really good friend," Lily said with an intensity that made Roger slightly uncomfortable. He was sure the drinks had messed with Lily's emotions.

"Calm down, I just don't want Deacy at my throat," he said, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "Don't… do that. It's fine. You're also paying for my drinks, so… I'd rather be here with you."

"Good, I like that you're keeping me company." Lily's smile grew so big, he was sure it was going to hurt her cheeks. "Oh, I keep forgetting to tell you, but I really like that top you're wearing."

Roger tilted his head in amusement. That was a sudden change in conversation but he didn't mind. He preferred to stick to light topics, and they had been slowly edging to a place he wasn't comfortable with.

"I really like what you wear," she continued, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt and admiring it. There wasn't anything special about the shit that he was wearing, it was just a bright yellow shirt with some flowers around the edges. He honestly thought it was one of his more simpler outfits. "You have a very unique fashion sense that I admire. Not a lot of people I know would wear very this type of unique clothes."

Roger snapped his fingers. "Then I must introduce you to our lead singer, he will blow your mind away. He's actually kinda hard to miss."

"Don't be rude," she said, smacking his shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding onto his shirt. "But I stand by what I said: it's really nice."

"Thank you," he said, unable to stop himself from smiling at the compliment. "If you ever want to use it, you can just ask me."

Lily brightened at that and let go of his shirt. "Really? That's so great. You're so nice, Roger, so so nice."

Roger had decided that he preferred drunk Lily, she was much nicer to him than sober Lily, which was saying something because sober Lily was always nice to him but not to this extent.

"Let me get you another round," she said loudly and waved over the bartender. "Can you please get us two beers, one for me and my very good friend… um, what's your full name again?"

She got momentarily distracted and looked over at Roger expectantly.

"Roger Taylor."

She shook her head. "No, no, no. You don't have a middle name?"

"I do," he said and was not going to elaborate, but seeing the expectant look on her face, he sighed and reluctantly admitted, "Its Meddows."

"Meddows? Roger Meddows Taylor?" she repeated and he nodded shortly. "Oh my God. I love it. Meddows. I love it. It's so much better than mine. Mine is Jane. It's so boring. But Meddows, that one is so pretty. God, why is everything about you pretty?"

"Are you going to get something?" the bartender asked her impatiently.

"Oh! Yes! One rum and coke for me and a beer for the blond guy. He's the drummer from Queen, the band that just played," she stated proudly. "Roger Meddows Taylor is my mate."

Roger cringed and shook his head. He wasn't that worried, though. She was drunk and would most likely forget about it the next morning.

* * *

Roger underestimated Lily's memory because she did not forget.

The next time they saw each other, Lily had greeted him cheerfully, "Hi, Meddows!"

Honestly, he might have claimed to be irritated at her for the remainder of the day, but even he knew back then, there wasn't much that Lily could do that would ever piss him off.

She could break his heart and he would still want her. And so far, that was turning out to be true.


End file.
